- With the help of stem cells mini human hearts beat on their own are being grown in the lab
- As per researchers Abertay University in the UK heart is 1 mm in diametre and contract at around 30 beats per minute
- Mini heart is being developed to find a cure for heart hypertrophy a disorder that leads to sudden death
- Though positive the mini heart is being developed using chemicals to simulate the physiological conditions that will make the hearts hypertrophic
- Unhealthy heart will be treated with newly developed medications to see if they can prevent the damage
- Heart hypertrophy thickens and stiffness of heart muscles this disorder could be hereditary, due to diabetes or rigorous exercise
- Rhythmic disorders of heart are most common for sudden death in young people
- Symptoms could be found out but no cure for this as of now
- Using biosensors Zhelev isable to label certain molecules in the hearts to see which pathway they follow and which molecules cause the hearts to become hypertrophic
- Zhelev is able to aim drugs at these molecules and prevent them from moving further the path they would usually take and prevent them from becoming hypertrophic
- Stem cells can be transported through this device to planes
- Cell needs to be troubled as they don’t cluster and loose medical properties
- Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California inspired by mechanical clock has developed this device which is springdriven and can house and agitate tubes of stem cells during shipping without use of electronics
- Read at: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31806&articlexml=Tiny-self-beating-hearts-grown-in-lab-27062014019021
Exams Perspective:
- Zhelev
- Biosensor
- Drug Targetting